LatinoBuzz: What Makes a Latino Film Latino?

LatinoBuzz: What Makes a Latino Film Latino?

Towards the end of every year film blogs start overflowing with
lists: the top ten films of the year, the worst box office bombs of the year,
the best acting performances of the year, and anything else you can imagine.
Last year one particular post really bugged me. Jack Rico, NBC Latino
contributor, put together a list of the, “Best
Hispanic movies of 2012” that included films like Silver Linings Playbook,Skyfall
(a James Bond movie), and End of Watch. Were these really the best Latino films of the year? I was
dumbfounded. Not one of these movies was written or directed by a Latino. I
kept wondering, what makes these films Latino?

Rico explains the criteria he used to compile his list, “But
in order to develop a list like this, we must first define what a Hispanic
movie is. The conventional answer is a film that has a Latino story, a Latino
cast, and ideally, a Latino director, with language being irrelevant. But since
Hollywood does not green-light enough Hispanic scripts, that answer needs to be
broadened to also include any actor/actress or director who has a prominent
role in a mainstream film.” Something about his definition just didn’t sit
right with me. I agree with the assertion that, “Hollywood does not green-light
enough Hispanic scripts” but do we have to resort to including films with no
Latino content or Latino crew but just happen to have one Latino actor in a
supporting role? No way! The opportunity was missed to highlight the
achievements of Latino filmmakers outside of the Hollywood system. It is a huge
disservice to ignore independently-produced Latino movies particularly in a
year like 2012 when these films won awards at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, and garnered
Chile its first foreign language film Oscar nomination. So the question remains
if you are a programmer, writer, academic or anyone else looking to champion
Latino filmmakers and their projects what criteria should be used to qualify a
film as Latino?

In my personal experience, these measures can change
depending on the context. At the New York International Latino Film Festival,
where I have programmed documentaries for the last couple of years, we show
films, “made by, featuring, about and/or for the Latino community.” We take
into consideration who is in front of the camera, who is behind the camera, and
what the story is about. These criteria are purposely broad; we want to be as
inclusive as possible. (It’s worth noting that we occasionally show films from
Spain as well.)

As a writer I tend to use these same benchmarks and aim to
strike a balance of diverse stories, perspectives, and countries while taking
into consideration the gender, orientation, and racial makeup of the filmmakers
I choose to spotlight. Last year I put together my own top ten list for ReMezcla. I took
advantage of the burgeoning indie film scene in Latin America and the U.S. and
purposely chose to focus solely on independent
Latino films. These indies are mostly ignored by the mainstream media. I called
my post, “10
Latino Films You Probably Didn’t See in 2012 And Should.” I
included films directed by women and men, LGBT stories, films that took place
in Latin America and the U.S., and where the dialogue is spoken in English or
Spanish. I also included two documentaries directed by non-Latinos but on
Latino subjects. But, in an effort to be as inclusive as possible sometimes
things start to enter a grey area.

There has to be a balance. Is Silver Linings Playbook a Latino film? Even on an intuitive level
that’s an easy question to answer. I am sure I’m not in the minority in saying
no, it is not a Latino film. Personally, when I am considering whether a film
is Latino I ask myself a series of questions:

·
Is the writer Latino?

·
Is the director Latino?

·
Is the film crew Latino?

·
Is the majority of the cast Latino?

·
Does the story have Latino content?

·
Was the film shot in the U.S. and/or Latin America?

·
Is the production company from Latin America, the
U.S., and/or Spain? (to account for co-productions)

· Is the film in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous language?

The more times you answer yes to these questions to closer
you get to the answer you are looking for. And yes it can be subjective. In
which case I find it important to define exactly what you mean by a Latino film
just like Jack Rico did in his piece. Although I still take issue with his list
of the, “Best
Hispanic movies of 2012” I appreciate his transparency.

I also know that I have completely ignored the issues that
come with using the term “Latino” in the first place. Who exactly is Latino?
Does it depend on where you were born, where your parents are from? Should we
distinguish between American-born Latinos and Latin Americans? Are Brazilians Latino?
Well, I will leave that for another post.

But, I am interested to know what other people think. Feel
free to discuss in the comments below how you go about determining whether a
film is Latino or not.

Zhao said with her Bass Reeves biopic, she’ll direct a more traditional cast like she did with her first-timers: “You can work with an actor in a certain way, you can create an environment like Terrence Malick has always done.”